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Page designed and maintained by Hazel Mottram.Last modified 25/01/02 |
| Description of work - Why study the deep biosphere? - Key questions - Objectives - Samples - Consortium members research |
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Why study the deep biosphere? |
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The project has fundamental importance for our knowledge of biodiversity of life on Earth and of marine ecosystem functioning. It has implications for our understanding of global biogeochemical cycles and the interactions between the biosphere and the geosphere, for our knowledge of organic matter maturation (and the formation ultimately of fossil fuels, including gas hydrate), the impact of potential deep-sea disposal of wastes, and for water quality management issues (through fluxes between water bodies and the underlying sediments). Moreover, the potential for discovery and isolation of unique new organisms adapted to extreme environments could offer new prospects for bioremediation and pollution control as well as novel organisms and enzymes for biotechnology.
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